The assembly of close fitting parts into bores of another part, in particular spool valves into valve bores in transmission valve bodies, is done mainly by hand. Manufacturers have tried to use mechanical insertion devices to avoid the expense of hand assembly. In general, these devices attempt to precisely locate the bore to determine exact alignment just prior to each attempt to place and push a spool valve into the bore. With these devices, any jams that occur while pushing are rectified through force feedback information and through the use of a continual arbitrary search for the correct position and orientation. These devices require exacting precision in locating the bore each time and are still prone to jamming.
Further, a need exists to evacuate foreign matter located within the bore prior to inserting the spool valve into the bore. Neither the hand assembly method nor the prior automated assembly devices serve this purpose while assembling the parts.
A method and apparatus for automating such assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,007, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Occasionally a valve spool may be misaligned during assembly and not completely seat in the valve body.
The need, then, arises to provide a device that will eliminate the need for hand assembly of close fitting valve spools into valve bores, yet will quickly and reliably locate and insert the spool valves into the bores while avoiding problems with jamming and the need for the exacting precision required with devices that locate and push the spool valves into the bores.